The Sun Is Also a Star: "The Waitress"–"Daniel"

by Nicola Yoon
In one of the most popular and highly praised YA novels of 2016, two teens meet and fall in love over the course of a single day in New York City.

This list covers pages 116–217.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
40 words 163 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. distraught
    deeply agitated especially from emotion
    Jeremy Fitzgerald was crossing the street when a drunk and distraught man—an insurance actuary—in a white BMW hit him at twenty miles per hour.
  2. pacifist
    someone opposed to violence as a means of settling disputes
    My mother, the pacifist, would kill me dead if she knew what I’d just done.
  3. existential
    relating to or dealing with the state of being
    Is he saying the right things, or is he letting all his doubt and existential angst shine through? The boy needs a life coach.
  4. subdued
    restrained in style or quality
    Elaborate hairstyles designated power and wealth. A subdued style could be a sign that you were in a state of mourning.
  5. profound
    far-reaching and thoroughgoing in effect
    On slave ships, newly captured Africans were forcibly shaved in a profound act of dehumanization, an act that effectively severed the link between hair and cultural identity.
  6. militant
    disposed to warfare or hard-line policies
    When Natasha decides to wear hers in an Afro, it’s not because she’s aware of all this history. She does it despite Patricia Kingsley’s assertions that Afros make women look militant and unprofessional.
  7. assertion
    a declaration that is made emphatically
    Those assertions are rooted in fear—fear that her daughter will be harmed by a society that still so often fears blackness.
  8. deploy
    use or distribute systematically or strategically
    “Can I try that again?” I ask, deploying my Do-Over.
  9. interloper
    someone who intrudes on the privacy or property of another
    I turn to face our interloper.
  10. parody
    humorous or satirical mimicry
    “Oh, I thought maybe he’d caught a shoplifting customer.” His face is a parody of innocence.
  11. propriety
    correct behavior
    Anything he says Charlie will translate, and my dad’s sense of propriety can’t allow that to happen.
  12. deferential
    showing courteous regard for people's feelings
    Instead, he turns into Deferential Store Owner like I’ve seen him do a million times to a million customers.
  13. innuendo
    an indirect and usually malicious implication
    He waggles his eyebrows to make sure we all get his innuendo.
  14. penchant
    a strong liking or preference
    “Starving, really? You have a penchant for exaggeration.”
  15. offset
    compensate for or counterbalance
    “Starving, really? You have a penchant for exaggeration.”
    “It's to offset your precision.”
  16. discreet
    not easily noticeable
    I take what I think is a discreet sniff of her hair that is not discreet at all.
  17. mortified
    made to feel uncomfortable because of shame or wounded pride
    She scoots away from me, eyes wide and mortified. “Did you just smell me?” she asks.
  18. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    I’m really trying to remain stoic and unaffected. I remind myself that I don’t like poetic language.
  19. concise
    expressing much in few words
    “So you feel bad, then?” she teases.
    I laugh because it's such a simple and concise way to describe something so complicated.
  20. prescient
    perceiving the significance of events before they occur
    Still, a part of him had said to stay away. Some prescient part of him saw the two paths diverging in the yellow wood.
  21. complimentary
    costing nothing
    The panchan, complimentary side dishes, arrive almost immediately.
  22. adamant
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
    She closes her eyes like this is the most delicious thing she’s ever tasted. She said not to stare but I’m staring. I love the way she seems to feel things with her entire body. I wonder why a girl who is so obviously passionate is so adamantly against passion.
  23. solemnity
    a trait of dignified seriousness
    He looks at me with mock solemnity, but his dancing eyes give him away.
  24. obscure
    make unclear or less visible
    He adjusts his stance until his feet are planted wide, bows his head so that his hair obscures his face, and holds the microphone up in the air in one hand—classic rock star pose.
  25. croon
    sing softly
    It’s “Take a Chance on Me” by ABBA. He puts a hand over his heart and croons the first verse.
  26. abandon
    a feeling of extreme emotional intensity
    For the rest of the song he’s back up on his feet, gripping the microphone with both hands and singing with abandon.
  27. melancholy
    a feeling of thoughtful sadness
    No force on earth can stop me, except that her song starts and crushes the moment with melancholy.
  28. morose
    showing a brooding ill humor
    “It’s a little morose, isn’t it?” I tease.
    “A little angst never hurt anyone.”
  29. theological
    of or relating to or concerning the study of religion
    I wouldn’t have gotten on the 7 train with the theological conductor looking for God.
  30. disoriented
    having lost your bearings
    For a few seconds, I’m disoriented by the businesses stacked high on top of each other with Korean signage until I remember that we're in Koreatown.
  31. concede
    admit or acknowledge, often reluctantly
    “Meant-to-be doesn’t exist,” she says.
    I don’t want to have a philosophical discussion, so I concede. “Okay, but if it did, then—"
  32. naive
    lacking information or instruction
    “Not true,” she says. “How can you be this naïve?”
    “Well, I’d rather be naïve than whatever it is you are. You only see things that are right in front of your face.”
  33. impasse
    a situation in which no progress can be made
    And now we’re at an impasse.
  34. mystical
    relating to a belief in communion with an ultimate reality
    I’ve been acting like some mystical, crystal-worshiping dummy.
  35. ascribe
    attribute or credit to
    Life is just a series of dumb decisions and indecisions and coincidences that we choose to ascribe meaning to.
  36. haggard
    showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
    Finally we have Atropos—old, haggardly. Inevitable. In her hands she holds the terrible shears she’ll use to cut the thread of your child’s life.
  37. nebulous
    lacking definite form or limits
    Daniel lives in the nebulous space in between. Maybe he wasn’t meant to meet Natasha today. Maybe it was random chance after all.
  38. harried
    troubled persistently, especially with petty annoyances
    He looks like an older and more harried version of the picture on his website.
  39. renowned
    widely known and esteemed
    In that life, he’s renowned and respected. His kids look up to him. His wife wears diamonds and is the envy of men and women alike.
  40. transcendent
    exceeding or surpassing usual limits
    He was excellent.
    He was transcendent.
    He belonged on that stage more than he's ever belonged with us.
Created on Mon Jun 26 11:15:54 EDT 2017 (updated Sun Jul 31 15:52:14 EDT 2022)

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